Rules and Ranks

I glanced over the tall and thin blonde young woman standing next to me and I could see that she felt uncomfortable. After hesitating for a brief moment, I decided to go next.

“My name is Mila. It’s a pleasure to meet everyone. I look forward to working here…” I said before smiling a little.

“You’re the last one,” Madame Cassandra stated after nodding briefly at me.

Our attention turned to the girl with straight blonde hair. She seemed very timid as her pale blue eyes stared back at us while her lower lip quivered visibly.

“I…I’m Selena. It’s nice to meet you…” Selena finally said softly as her eyes darted all over the place.

“Follow me this way. I will personally teach you how things work around here,” Madame Cassandra said before leading the way.

We followed her down a narrow hallway before she entered a room that resembled a small classroom. She gestured with her hand for us the take a seat at the small desks in the room. After seeing that the three of us had taken our seats, she began her explanations immediately.

“You should have figured out by now that you are here to work as maids in this palace. It is considered an honor for you to even be here. Please always remember that. There are many rules that govern this palace and how things are run in this kingdom. Within the ranks of maids, there are also strict rules,” Madame said before her eyes squinted as us.

I gulped nervously at how scary and serious she was making this out to be. Perhaps, it really was truly scary and serious.

“This kingdom is proud of its traditions that have been upheld since olden times. The people in this palace are separated into clear ranks and classes as follows. At the top, the core royal family. The King and his three sons, the first, second, and third prince. Then comes the other royalties, aristocratic families, and prominent politicians that help the king govern this kingdom. These people or their families have close ties to the core royal family or have contributed much to the country in the past,” Madame explained sternly.

The three of us just nodded our head in silence as we took in this new piece of information. I began wondering how the other two girls ended up here. Were they bought by the prince at an auction just like me? Does that mean that they are also from another country abroad?

“Any questions so far?” Madame asked as her eyes narrowed at us.

All of us quickly shook our head from side to side. After staring at a us for a split of a second, Madame Cassandra went on with her explanation.

“Among the two classes is a special class that consists purely of women. This class is formally called ‘Honorable Maidens’. Essentially, they are a group of specially selected women who hold the adoration and interest of the men in the core royal family,” the Madame continued.

Honorable Maidens…?

I wasn’t exactly sure what made these maidens special or what exactly she meant by ‘adoration and interest’. The two girls next to me nodded their heads and I automatically did the same.

“The reason that I am explaining this to you is because our maid class is directly associated with the different classes in this palace. In other words, the rank of each maid is determined by who she serves. The lowest rank called the Basic Maids, like you three, don’t serve anyone. You perform basic duties and labor work to keep the palace clean and to cook. Do you understand?” Madame Cassandra explained before arching a brow at us.

“Yes…” we all murmured at the same time.

“The next class are called the Noble Maids and they serve the aristocratic family and key politicians. Above them, are dedicated ladies in waiting to the Honorable Maidens. This class of maids are called Sacred Maids and they work in the Sacred Chambers where the Honorable Maidens live. Lastly, the top tier maids in this entire palace are those that directly serve the king and the three princes, they are called the Royal maids,” Madame Cassandra finally finished explaining.

Things were much more complicated than I had initially thought. Cleaning and cooking were simple enough but this whole ranking system was giving me a headache already. It was clear to me without a single thought that being the basic maid was the best option. Clear tasks that I already knew how to do, that was clearly the best alternative out of all of them. Thankfully, that was my role.

How lucky!

“Needless to say, most if not all the maids here want to climb up the ranks. Some want to become royal maids while some even want to go further than that. Before you start your duties, I have some ground rules and warnings for you. Firstly, return to the maids’ quarters before sunset and stay locked in your room every night unless you have permission to go out. I cannot guarantee your safety if you do not follow this rule. Secondly, I would recommend that you don’t invite unnecessary attention to yourself. Of course, unless you’re willing to pay the price…” Madame warned us before she smiled at us coldly.

Her creepy smile sent a shiver through my entire body. Why would anyone want to invite any attention to themselves? Getting the work done and staying out of trouble should be easy enough.

I didn’t understand until a little later what Madame’s warnings were for…

…

We spent the rest of the day with our first task of cleaning up one of the gardens on the palace grounds. I had never seen a garden this large, or this elaborately decorated before in my life. There were marble sculptures of angels everywhere along with rose bushes. The red roses blooming all around the garden made the place breathtaking beautiful. However, the tree around shed too many leaves and that was where we came in.

--To be continued...